Slip and Fall Attorney West Palm Beach, FL
Are you a victim that has suffered a slip and fall accident injury on commercial property? These can be potentially very serious, causing devastation for both your financial and physical well-being. If you suffered an accident that has significantly impacted your life, you may be eligible for compensation. Hiring a slip and fall lawyer can be the best asset to ensure that you get the compensation that you deserve. By reading on, you can learn everything that you need to know about slip and fall accidents so that you can understand what your rights are and what to expect during this process.
Most Common Situations for Slip and Fall Accidents in West Palm Beach, FL
Slip and Fall accidents are more common than you think. Depending on the specific situation surrounding your slip and fall accident, your injuries can range from very minor to quite serious. In this section, you can get a close look at some of the most common situations that can lead to a slip and fall accident.
Spilled Food and Beverages
A common problem is that someone has a slip and fall accident due to spilled food and beverages. These types of situations can occur in restaurants, fast-food establishments, and grocery stores. It’s common that these items end up on the floor and if the staff may not be as vigilant as they should be to fix these problems. If spilled food and beverages are not picked up in a reasonable amount of time, this can lead to accidents and injuries involving customers.
Wet Floors
Whether the flooring is wet due to customers bringing the outside weather in with them or if it’s as a result of freshly mopped floors, wet floors can be a serious safety risk for customers. Cleaning flooring, especially high traffic areas, is something that needs to be done regularly to keep the store looking clean. The problem is that this can lead to flooring that is slippery and will lead to customers not taking the care that they need to. The staff needs to be sure that they have the proper signage up to warn customers of this hazard.
Sidewalks and Parking Lots
Some other major areas of concern include parking lots and sidewalks. If these areas are not properly maintained, they can be very serious for customers. Things like cracks and potholes can pose slip and fall hazards. It’s important that these areas are regularly maintained and are fixed as soon as possible if a problem is noticed.
Common Hazards in Slip and Fall Cases
The previous section took a closer look at some of the most common situations that can lead to slip and fall accidents. But these aren’t the only areas of concern, especially for seniors who visit various establishments. There are numerous types of hazards that you may come across that can lead to potentially serious slip and fall accidents.
Overgrown landscaping that can obstruct the sidewalks or other paths for walking.
Driveways that are broken and/or cracked
Poorly lit areas
Stairwells without handrails or have broken handrails
Steps that lack any treads or treads that are of an inadequate width.
Walkways with a lot of debris and clutter
Wet and slippery floors
Water that has pooled as a result of HVAC units or other sources of leaks.
Power cords impeding the walkways.
Rugs or other floorings that are uneven peeling up, or improperly secured.
These are only a few of the different situations that can lead to a slip and fall accident.
Types of Slip and Fall Injuries
The severity of your slip and fall injuries can depend on a variety of different factors. Seniors and young children are typically more susceptible to injuries, but the harsh reality is that any person can fall victim to these types of injuries. These are the most common types of injuries that can occur with a slip and fall accident.
Broken bones and fractures especially in the ankle, wrist, or hips.
Injuries to the spine
Traumatic Brain Injuries or other head injuries
Internal injuries
Soft tissue injuries
Head injuries are widely considered to be the most common of these slip and fall injuries, as most people hit their head as they fall to the ground. This can lead to TBIs (Traumatic Brain Injuries) that can lead to problems that can significantly impact your life. Some issues that you may struggle with after a head injury include seizures, impairment of your cognitive function, concussions, or mood changes.
Spinal cord injuries are another very common and potentially very serious injury that can occur as a result of a slip and fall accident. Some of the concerns with this type of injury include paralysis, herniated discs, and fractured vertebrae. Spinal injuries are not just serious as a result of the physical impairments that they can lead to but also impairments to your neurological health.
Slip and Fall Cases and Liability
In order for you to be entitled to compensation, you need to be able to prove that your injuries were the result of someone else’s negligence. One aspect of this is determining the type of visitor you were to the premises you were injured on. There are 3 different types of visitors: trespasser, licensee, and invitees. Each of these groups has its own protection under the law in slip and fall accident cases.
Trespassers have the least number of protections under the law. When talking about a trespasser, this means that the person did not have permission or was not allowed on the premises legally. The owner of the property really just has to not intentionally harm a trespasser, but that’s the limit for what they are liable for. For instance, if you go into an “Employees Only” area of the grocery store and trip on a crate, the property owner will not be liable for your injuries.
The next type of visitor is the licensee. The licensee is a visitor that is not financially beneficial for the property owner. People that are classified in this category include a plumber, party guest, or some other worker on-site that is providing a service for the property owner. The property owner is only responsible for making reasonable accommodations to ensure the safety of people on the premises.
The last category is the invitees. People who are in this category have the most protection under the law. Invitees are financially beneficial to the property owner, meaning that they are paying customers. Property owners are responsible for ensuring that the property is free of any hazards and that any hazards are taken care of within a reasonable time frame. These property owners must regularly inspect the property to ensure that everything is as safe as possible.
The first part of the process is determining what type of visitor that you were on the premises. The next part is determining if there was reasonable care taken to prevent the accident or if the accident was remedied within a reasonable amount of time. There are some things to consider here. If you slipped and fell as a result of a pothole that has been there for a while and the management knew about it, you may be entitled to compensation. But, if someone dropped their coffee and you immediately slipped on it, there is no reasonable expectation that the mess would have been picked up within seconds of the accident.
The last part of this is to prove that your injuries were as a result of your slip and fall. Your slip and fall injuries entitle you to specific compensation, including any hospital bills, medical bills, or other compensation such as lost wages. Having medical documentation is essential in proving these injuries for personal injury claims.
You will also need to establish what is known as “constructive knowledge”. What this means is that the property owner was actually aware of the hazard. As previously mentioned, the property owner is responsible for remedying any potential hazard in a reasonable amount of time. This is often on them to do regular inspections to ensure that there are no repairs required to make the property as safe as possible for people on their premises. This concept means that you need to prove that the property owner was aware of the problem and took reasonable steps to fix it. This would make the accident foreseeable and therefore, preventable.
If you can prove a case for premises liability, you can get fair compensation for your slip and fall claim from an insurance company for your damages.
What Should You Do After a Slip and Fall Accident
If you were involved in a slip and fall accident, it can be a very overwhelming experience. What you do immediately after your accident can have a significant impact on your case. The first thing that you need to do is get the attention of anyone around you to get help. Be sure to take pictures of the hazard as well as any other relevant pictures, such as those of your injuries. You want to be sure that you talk to a staff member as soon as possible to get an accident report written up. You should get a copy of this as soon as possible after the accident so that you can keep it as evidence. It’s also very important that you accept any medical attention offered as denying medical attention can show them that you aren’t as injured as you say you are. This can hurt your case. It’s also recommended to get the contact information of any staff or witnesses.
After seeking medical treatment, you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible. You want to be sure that everything is fresh in your mind as well as ensure that any evidence such as camera footage isn’t tampered with. It’s also important to get a lawyer involved as soon as possible because the sooner that you can get help involved, the sooner you can receive the compensation that you deserve for your accident.
Throughout this process, you need to stick to the medical treatment plan provided by your medical professionals. Failure to even make a simple checkup could actually hurt your case. By following the treatment plan, you are showing the defendant that you are doing everything that you can to recover from your injuries. This will look favorably upon you during your slip and fall case.
There are some other things that you can do that will help ensure the best possible outcomes for your case. First of all, you should keep any mention of this case off of social media. In fact, it’s probably a good idea to just stay away from social media in general. Your social media accounts can be used as evidence by the defendants. For instance, if you share pictures on social media of you having fun, they could argue that this is evidence that you are not as injured as you say you are. It’s best to avoid social media sites until your case has concluded.
You should also save every document that you get from your doctor as well as constantly take pictures of your injuries. Through sharing image updates of your injuries, you can help document the recovery process and show that you were actually injured. Every bit of evidence that you can share during the trial will make it easier for you to get the compensation that you deserve. It’s also a good idea to make sure that you have the future treatment plan for medical expenses that you may incur later, such as for additional surgery and rehabilitation. You want to make sure that these expenses are covered.
WEST PALM BEACH
SLIP AND FALL ACCIDENT ATTORNEYS
FREE CONSULTATION
561-990-4000
How a West Palm Beach Slip and Fall Accident Attorney Can Help
Slip and fall accident cases are incredibly complex, which is why you should always have the help of a slip and fall accident attorney. When you hire an experienced attorney, they can compile evidence by performing their own thorough investigation of your situation. The defendant is going to have a great attorney working for them and so should you.
They will start by gathering as much evidence as they can. If you have contact information for any witnesses, they will question them and get more information that can potentially help your case. They can also access things like operational logs, cleaning logs, and security footage that you may not be able to obtain yourself. These items are evidence that can be essential in proving your case against the property owner. Evidence can be destroyed or people can forget information, so the attorney needs to collect this information as soon as possible to ensure the most accurate information and the best evidence is gathered.
This process will typically include:
Visiting where the accident took place.
Taking photographs of the accident site, especially if the hazard is still there after the accident has taken place.
Contact witnesses and question them.
Review various security footage to determine how long the hazard has existed.
The attorney will also look over your medical documents and speak to medical professionals to discuss the extent of your injuries. The goal with this is to ensure that you get all of the compensation that you are entitled to, especially in cases like back injuries where you may not realize there’s an injury until much later on.
From there, the attorney will take a look at all of this information as well as your damages to come up with a fair number for compensation. The goal is to start negotiations to get you a settlement, which means that you get your money faster and you can keep more of it. However, if a fair price cannot be adequately negotiated, the lawyer will be ready to fight for your best interests in court.
Compensation You May Be Entitled To
Slip and fall accidents can be potentially financially devastating, in addition to the physical and emotional distress these accidents can cause. You may be entitled to compensation for the following:
Current and future medical expenses, including surgeries, hospital stays, and rehabilitation needs.
Current or future lost wages
Pain and suffering
Punitive damages
Diminished quality of life
How much money are you entitled to? This answer is very case-dependent. The more severe the injuries, as well as the property owner’s negligence, can mean that you are entitled to more money. Lawyers have standard calculations that they use to ensure that their clients get fair compensation for their injuries, helping them recover damages that would otherwise cause financial ruin for the victim and their families.
Contact Us Today
If you were a victim of a slip and fall accident in West Palm Beach, you want to make sure that you have the right team on your side. At The Injury Firm, our team is here to ensure that you get the best outcomes possible for your case. We offer each client a free case evaluation to determine whether or not they have a case and what the best approach to get the best outcomes for a fair settlement. Contact us today to ask any questions that you may have and see how we can help you.
